For Private Eyes Only: Selected Artwork from the Kinsey Institute
The Kinsey Institute in Bloomington, Indiana contains an archive of objects and ephemera related to Alfred Kinsey’s pioneering studies of human sexuality. Sixteen pieces from the Institute are now on view at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago through October 2 as the exhibition Private Eyes: Selected Artworks from the Kinsey […]
Collecting a Human Experience at The Keeper
Holocaust memorabilia, rock crystals, antique vessels, and trash found on the streets of New York City: these are some of the objects in The New Museum’s current exhibition, The Keeper. Discarded pieces of gum and cellophane wrappers are shown side-by-side with photographs documenting the structure of snowflakes. Among the exhibited artifacts are quilts from Alabama […]
Old in New: Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens
Many Philadelphians may take for granted a sight that frequents the narrow, colonial streets of South Philly – passages of mosaic murals made from broken mirror and porcelain embedded in plaster on building facades. These distinctive pieces are the life’s work of local artist Isaiah Zagar, and manifest in their most concentrated form at Philadelphia’s […]
The Rarely-Seen Work of Obscure Artist John Schacht
Earlier this year, the Knockdown Center in Brooklyn organized a group exhibition that was partly comprised by the first posthumous show of works by a little-known American artist named John Schacht (b. 1938). Stacie Johnson, the curator of the exhibition, first learned about Schacht’s work in 2010 when she worked as an archivist for the […]
Catching a Fever Within: Ronald Lockett at AFAM
Earlier this summer, a large audience gathered in the American Folk Art Museum’s main hall to listen to an esteemed panel talk about the life and work of the late Bessemer, Alabama artist Ronald Lockett. A lighthearted gravitas filled the room. As the first ever solo exhibit of Lockett’s art—an admixture of found sculpture, folk, […]
Measurably Long Kool at Fleisher/Ollman
Since its opening in 1952 (as Janet Fleisher Gallery), Fleisher/Ollman Gallery in Philadelphia has done a great deal to propel the field of self-taught art into the mainstream. From early representation of Henry Darger and James Castle to their current, consistently cohesive representation of both traditionally trained and outsider artists – often exhibited together inclusively […]
Uncorking Controversy: The Patience Bottles of Steve Moseley
There is good reason the works by folk artist, Steve Moseley are referred to as patience bottles or whimsy bottles: they require incredible attention and evoke a powerful sense of oddity. Commenting on complex and controversial themes like religion, sex, and politics, the bottles are windows into Moseley’s satirical view of humanity and the absurdity […]
The Art of Shock and Awe
Matt Sesow’s painting “A Choice” (2016) is a total immersion into his creative world. It’s a large-scale painting dominated by hot hues—a bright red, an electric blue, a simmering yellow—depicting a young man in a bed with a woman standing over him. His right arm glows with a healthy pinkish shine; his left arm is […]
NYHS Celebrates the Folk Art Collection of Elie and Viola Nadelman
The New-York Historical Society (NYHS) has organized an exhibition that celebrates the folk art collection of the late artist Elie Nadelman (1882-1946) and his wife, the heiress Viola Spiess Flannery (1878-1962). The show, titled The Folk Art Collection of Elie and Viola Nadelman (from May 20th to August 21st, 2016) comprises more than 200 objects […]
Verbalizing Art in a Deaf World: The Minneapolis Institute of Art Features Works by James Castle
The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) has assembled an exhibition comprising forty-four works by the late self-taught artist James Castle (1899-1977), titled The Experience of Every Day (from May 21st – August 21st 2016). The exhibition includes twenty-five drawings (ten that are double-sided), thirteen three-dimensional constructions, five hand-made books, and one collage. The collection of […]